a white, crystalline, odorless, slightly water-soluble noncarbohydrate powder, C14H18N2O5, synthesized from amino acids, that is 150â€“200 times as sweet as sugar: used as a low-calorie sugar substitute in soft drinks, table sweeteners, and other food pro

atomistic

n.

the theory that minute, discrete, finite, and indivisible elements are the ultimate constituents of all matter.

autobiographical

adj.

marked by or dealing with one's own experiences or life history; of or in the manner of an autobiography:

avocado

n.,

a large, usually pear-shaped fruit having green to blackish skin, a single large seed, and soft, light-green pulp, borne by the tropical American tree Persea americana and its variety P. adrymifolia, often eaten raw, esp. in salads.

benefic

adj.

doing or promoting some good; beneficent:

bergamot

n.,

a Turkish rug characterized by a long pile, floral or geometric patterns, and red-orange hues.

bibliophile

n.

a person who loves or collects books, esp. as examples of fine or unusual printing, binding, or the like.

biodegradable

adj.

capable of decaying through the action of living organisms:

brethren

plural n.

fellow members.

brontosaurus

n.,

brontosaur.

bureaucracy

n.,

government by many bureaus, administrators, and petty officials.

calumny

n.,

a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something:

canescent

adj.

covered with whitish or grayish pubescence, as certain plants.

charlatan

n.

a person who pretends or claims to have more knowledge or skill than he or she possesses; quack.

chivalry

n.,

the sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms.

chrism

n.

a consecrated oil, usually mixed with balsam or balsam and spices, used by certainchurches in various rites, as in baptism, confirmation, and the like.

chronological

adj.

arranged in the order of time:

chutney

n.,

a sauce or relish of East Indian origin, often compounded of both sweet and sour ingredients, as fruits and herbs, with spices and other seasoning.

circadian

adj.

noting or pertaining to rhythmic biological cycles recurring at approximately 24-hour intervals.

colander

n.

a metal or plastic container with a perforated bottom, for draining and straining foods.

colonel

n.

an officer in the U.S. Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps ranking between lieutenant colonel and brigadier general: corresponding to a captain in the U.S. Navy.

compendious

adj.

of or like a compendium; containing the substance of a subject, often an exclusive subject, in a brief form; concise:

comprehensive

adj.

of large scope; covering or involving much; inclusive:

compulsory

adj.

required; mandatory; obligatory:

conceivable

adj.

capable of being conceived; imaginable.

concordance

n.

agreement; concord; harmony:

condominium

n.

an apartment house, office building, or other multiple-unit complex, the units of which are individually owned, each owner receiving a recordable deed to the individual unit purchased, including the right to sell, mortgage, etc., that unit and sharing in

contaminant

n.

something that contaminates.

contemn

v.t.

to treat or regard with disdain, scorn, or contempt.

contingency

n.,

dependence on chance or on the fulfillment of a condition; uncertainty; fortuitousness:

contravene

v.t.,

to come or be in conflict with; go or act against; deny or oppose:

contrivance

n.

something contrived; a device, esp. a mechanical one.

cornucopia

n.

a horn containing food, drink, etc., in endless supply, said to have been a horn of the goat Amalthaea.

criterion

n.,

a standard of judgment or criticism; a rule or principle for evaluating or testing something.

cuisine

n.

a style or quality of cooking; cookery:

cumulative

adj.

increasing or growing by accumulation or successive additions:

cyclonic

adj.

of or pertaining to a cyclone.

deasil

adv.

clockwise or in a direction following the apparent course of the sun: considered as lucky or auspicious.

decahedron

n.,

a solid figure having ten faces.

declivity

n.,

a downward slope, as of ground (

delphinium

n.,

any of numerous plants of the genus Delphinium, esp. any of various tall, cultivated species having usually blue, pink, or white flowers.

demographic

adj.

of or pertaining to demography.

desolation

n.

an act or instance of desolating.

devastation

n.

the act of devastating; destruction.

diaspora

n.

the scattering of the Jews to countries outside of Palestine after the Babylonian captivity.

dinghy

n.,

any small boat designed as a tender or lifeboat, esp. a small ship's boat, rowed, sailed, or driven by a motor.

diphthong

n.

an unsegmentable, gliding speech sound varying continuously in phonetic quality but held to be a single sound or phoneme and identified by its apparent beginning and ending sound, as the oi-sound of toy or boil.

disseminate

v.t.,

to scatter or spread widely, as though sowing seed; promulgate extensively; broadcast; disperse:

dissonance

n.

inharmonious or harsh sound; discord; cacophony.

diversionary

adj.

tending to divert or distract the attention:

doldrums

n.

a state of inactivity or stagnation, as in business or art:

dulcimer

n.

a trapezoidal zither with metal strings that are struck with light hammers.

elocution

n.

a person's manner of speaking or reading aloud in public:

empathy

n.

the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.

encyclopedic

adj.

pertaining to or of the nature of an encyclopedia; relating to all branches of knowledge.

enunciate

v.t.

to utter or pronounce (words, sentences, etc.), esp. in an articulate or a particular manner:

equable

adj.

free from many changes or variations; uniform:

escalation

v.t., v.i.,

to increase in intensity, magnitude, etc.:

exemplify

v.t.,

to show or illustrate by example.

extempore

adv.

on the spur of the moment; without premeditation or preparation; offhand:

facetious

adj.

not meant to be taken seriously or literally:

fiasco

n.,

a complete and ignominious failure.

forfeiture

n.

an act of forfeiting.

fusillade

n.

a simultaneous or continuous discharge of firearms.

gimlet

n.

a small tool for boring holes, consisting of a shaft with a pointed screw at one end and a handle perpendicular to the shaft at the other.

grenadier

n.

(in the British army) a member of the first regiment of household infantry

gurnard

n.,

any marine fish of the family Triglidae, having an armored, spiny head and the front part of the pectoral fins modified for crawling on the sea bottom.

habilitate

v.t.

to clothe or dress.

haiku

n.,

a major form of Japanese verse, written in 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, and employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons.

helmsman

n.,

a person who steers a ship.

henotheist

n.

the worship of a particular god, as by a family or tribe, without disbelieving in the existence of others.

hilarious

adj.

arousing great merriment; extremely funny:

hilarity

n.

cheerfulness; merriment; mirthfulness.

hillock

n.

a small hill.

honeycomb

n.

a structure of rows of hexagonal wax cells, formed by bees in their hive for the storage of honey, pollen, and their eggs.

hydrophyte

n.

a plant that grows in water or very moist ground; an aquatic plant.

hygienic

adj.

conducive to good health; healthful; sanitary.

ideogram

n.

a written symbol that represents an idea or object directly rather than a particular word or speech sound, as a Chinese character.

illegible

adj.

not legible; impossible or hard to read or decipher because of poor handwriting, faded print, etc.:

illicit

adj.

not legally permitted or authorized; unlicensed; unlawful.

implacable

adj.

not to be appeased, mollified, or pacified; inexorable:

improvisational

n.

an act of improvising.

inappropriate

adj.

not appropriate; not proper or suitable:

inconsonant

adj.

not consonant or in accord.

inequitable

adj.

not equitable; unjust or unfair:

inflammation

n.

redness, swelling, pain, tenderness, heat, and disturbed function of an area of the body, esp. as a reaction of tissues to injurious agents.

integument

n.

a natural covering, as a skin, shell, or rind.

interdict

n.

any prohibitory act or decree of a court or an administrative officer.

intermission

n.

a short interval between the acts of a play or parts of a public performance, usually a period of approximately 10 or 15 minutes, allowing the performers and audience a rest.

a narrow strip of land, bordered on both sides by water, connecting two larger bodies of land.

jeopardize

v.t.,

to put in jeopardy; hazard; risk; imperil:

jeremiad

n.

a prolonged lamentation or mournful complaint.

kitsch

n.

something of tawdry design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or undiscriminating taste.

kyrie

n.

the brief petition "Lord, have mercy," used in various offices of the Greek Orthodox Church and of the Roman Catholic Church.

lewisite

n.

a pale yellow, odorless compound, C2H2AsCl3, used as a blister gas in World War I.

lorgnette

n.

a pair of eyeglasses mounted on a handle.

mahatma

n.

Indian political leader: prime minister 1966â€“77 and 1980â€“84 (daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru).

marasmus

n.

malnutrition occurring in infants and young children, caused by insufficient intake of calories or protein and characterized by thinness, dry skin, poor muscle development, and irritability.

mastodon

n.

a massive, elephantlike mammal of the genus Mammut (Mastodon), that flourished worldwide from the Miocene through the Pleistocene epochs and, in North America, into recent times, having long, curved upper tusks and, in the male, short lower tusks.

membranous

adj.

consisting of, of the nature of, or resembling membrane.

menage

n.,

a domestic establishment; household.

millennial

adj.

of or pertaining to a millennium or the millennium.

mistletoe

n.

a European plant, Viscum album, having yellowish flowers and white berries, growing parasitically on various trees, used in Christmas decorations.

monosyllable

n.

a word of one syllable, as yes or no.

monoxide

n.

an oxide containing one oxygen atom in each molecule.

mousse

n.

a sweetened dessert with whipped cream as a base, often stabilized with gelatin and chilled in a mold:

mummery

n.,

the performance of mummers.

napiform

adj.

round at the top and tapering sharply below; turnip-shaped, as a root.

narcissus

n.,

any bulbous plant belonging to the genus Narcissus, of the amaryllis family, having showy yellow or white flowers with a cup-shaped corona.

narcoleptic

n.

a condition characterized by frequent and uncontrollable periods of deep sleep.

notoriety

n.,

the state, quality, or character of being notorious or widely known:

nougat

n.

a chewy or brittle candy containing almonds or other nuts and sometimes fruit.

nutritive

adj.

serving to nourish; providing nutriment; nutritious.

obscurantism

n.

opposition to the increase and spread of knowledge.

octosyllable

n.

a word or line of verse of eight syllables.

officiate

v.i.

to perform the office of a member of the clergy, as at a divine service.

ominous

adj.

portending evil or harm; foreboding; threatening; inauspicious:

opulence

n.

wealth, riches, or affluence.

ordnance

n.

cannon or artillery.

osier

n.

any of various willows, as the red osier, having tough, flexible twigs or branches that are used for wickerwork.

ostentation

n.

pretentious or conspicuous show, as of wealth or importance; display intended to impress others.

palmetto

n.,

any of various palms having fan-shaped leaves, as of the genera Sabal, Serenoa, and Thrinax.

palpitation

n.

the act of palpitating.

pamphleteer

n.

a writer or publisher of pamphlets, esp. on controversial issues.

panjandrum

n.

a self-important or pretentious official.

panoply

n.,

a wide-ranging and impressive array or display:

pantheism

n.

the doctrine that God is the transcendent reality of which the material universe and human beings are only manifestations: it involves a denial of God's personality and expresses a tendency to identify God and nature.

paraffin

n.

a white or colorless, tasteless, odorless, water-insoluble, solid substance not easily acted upon by reagents, consisting of a mixture of hydrocarbons chiefly of the alkane series, obtained from crude petroleum: used in candles, for forming preservative c

patriarch

n.

the male head of a family or tribal line.

pedagogue

n.

a teacher; schoolteacher.

pedestrian

n.

a person who goes or travels on foot; walker.

perfervid

adj.

very fervent; extremely ardent; impassioned:

photometry

n.

the measurement of the intensity of light or of relative illuminating power.

plasticize

v.t., v.i.,

to render or become plastic.

populous

adj.

full of residents or inhabitants, as a region; heavily populated.

predigestion

v.t.

to treat (food) by an artificial process analogous to digestion so that, when taken into the body, it is more easily digestible.